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North Jersey tank starts and puts out fire
- Thread starter 9supratt4
- Start date
DangerDave
NJRC Member
I'm sure the homeowner has some mixed emotions on that...
Wild story. I wonder if it was freshwater or saltwater
I can't imagine the heater making a fire. I would just think it would conduct the water in the tank
Ive been in a similar situation with my first tank. I posted the story on here but for those who haven't heard it ill re tell it.
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My first 40 gallon tank had a CPR Bak pak skimmer, the one fault with these skimmers is if there are any clogs in,the system in,my case a build up of organic matter in the bio mesh the water back flows into the skimmer chamber eventually to the point were it will spill out .. In my case this happened and it trickled down onto a surge protector which then shorted out.
At 2am my wife woke me up to the smell of smoke a strong acrid odor of plastic and burning wire.. I jumped out of bed and,ran into the tank room which was lit by a dim infa-red bulb. In the room I could hear sizzling and as I looked down,my bare feet were inches away from a puddle of water building,up on the floor... A small flame was building under the desk I told my wife to go to the circuit breaker and shut down the power to the room but just as she went to do that the breaker tripped and the room went dark the water put the fire out...
The surge protector failed to trip when it got wet had we not woken up or worse the breaker not trip we coulda lost every thing.
.
From now on all my wireing is hung vertically off the ground and drip loops on all wires. I have a water alarm on the floor near the tank and the electrical out lets have been changed to GFI outlets.
.
As a fire fighter I have been in many fires with out fear.. But as a father this scared the hell out of me. If a lesson is to be learned from this it is don't be careless .. The instruction s on most aquarium equipment tell you to have drip loops and the surge protector recommended mounting vertically those weren't just instructions just to sound fancy they were serious recommendations.
.
My first 40 gallon tank had a CPR Bak pak skimmer, the one fault with these skimmers is if there are any clogs in,the system in,my case a build up of organic matter in the bio mesh the water back flows into the skimmer chamber eventually to the point were it will spill out .. In my case this happened and it trickled down onto a surge protector which then shorted out.
At 2am my wife woke me up to the smell of smoke a strong acrid odor of plastic and burning wire.. I jumped out of bed and,ran into the tank room which was lit by a dim infa-red bulb. In the room I could hear sizzling and as I looked down,my bare feet were inches away from a puddle of water building,up on the floor... A small flame was building under the desk I told my wife to go to the circuit breaker and shut down the power to the room but just as she went to do that the breaker tripped and the room went dark the water put the fire out...
The surge protector failed to trip when it got wet had we not woken up or worse the breaker not trip we coulda lost every thing.
.
From now on all my wireing is hung vertically off the ground and drip loops on all wires. I have a water alarm on the floor near the tank and the electrical out lets have been changed to GFI outlets.
.
As a fire fighter I have been in many fires with out fear.. But as a father this scared the hell out of me. If a lesson is to be learned from this it is don't be careless .. The instruction s on most aquarium equipment tell you to have drip loops and the surge protector recommended mounting vertically those weren't just instructions just to sound fancy they were serious recommendations.
It's one of them stealth ones that look like a plantWheres the pump?
